and betsy greer, a long-time leader in the nami northern virginia fill rat is here. together our privilege to jointly present, i will introduce betsy here to take it from hear, to jointly present our next speaker with nami's richard t. greer advocacy award named in honor of betsy's late husband who was nami's first legislative director. much. [applause] >> good morning. 2014 marks nami's 35th's anniversary. richard greer served as nami's they are full-time employee and its first director of government relations. that was back when the national office was a one bedroom apartment on massachusetts avenue. those were the days when our loved ones were being discharged from state psychiatric hospitals and returned to their home communities. they were extremely ill, but their families had no skills or support to care for them. and those times richard greer usually din come home for supper until 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening, answering calls from across the nation from people seeking help for their loved ones. what do i need? where do i find services? what programs help? whom s

betsy greer, a long time northern virginia affiliate leader, together it is our privilege to join me present our next speaker with the richard t greer advocacy award, named in honor of betsy's late husband, who was the first director. [applause] 2014 marks nami's 35th anniversary. richard greer served as its third full-time employee and its first director of government relations. that was back when the national office was a one bedroom apartment on massachusetts avenue. those were the days when our loved ones were being discharged from psychiatric hospitals and returned to their home communities. they were extremely ill, but their families had no skills or support to care for them. in those times, richard greer did not usually come home for supper until 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening, answering calls from across the nation for people seeking help for their loved ones. what do i need? where do i find services? what programs help? whom should i call? it was through those phone calls that richard greer found nami foot soldiers to carry the message of the need for better services and program

betsy greer, a long time northern virginia affiliate together it is our privilege to join me present our next speaker with the richard t greer advocacy award, named in honor of betty's late husband -- betsy's late husband, who was the first director. [applause] >> good morning. nammee's 35th anniversary. richard greer served as its third full-time employee and its first rector of government relations. that was back when the national office was a one battle -- one bedroom apartment on massachusetts avenue. those were the days when our loved ones were being discharged from psychiatric hospitals and returned to their home communities. were extremely ill, but their families had no skills or support to care for them. -- richardmes, and greer did not usually come home for supper until 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening, answering calls from across the nation for people seeking help for their .oved ones what do i need? where do i find services? what programs help? whom should i call? phone callsgh those that richard greer found nami foot soldiers to carry the message of the need for better services

just ask betsy deval. >> greer is just full of train tracks. >> reporter: still haunted by her accident. though you'd never miss these tracks during daylight, at night here's what betsy saw. lost and confused, she got stuck on a crossing in rural south carolina. no idea that a train was barreling down on her. with only seconds to flee, she froze. >> when i realized there was just no way my car was going to make it off those tracks, i think i panicked and went into shock. >> reporter: a phenomenon called the freeze response -- a natural reaction where a person under duress is literally paralyzed by fear. thankfully, a nearby police officer quickly came to her rescue. >> just to think that in an instant my life could have been just taken without any warning. thank you. you saved me. >> reporter: and here in tempe, arizona, a train had just passed when brandon stovall started to drive across the tracks. he didn't see the second train coming. >> it was just like if someone were to walk next to your car and hit you with a baseball bat in the head. >>